Majority of U.S. Consumers Wary of Self-Driving Vehicles

June 6, 2013—A majority of U.S. consumers believe that self-driving vehicles are a bad idea, according to a new poll conducted for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently release_notesd new guidelines to states for self-driving vehicles.

According to the poll, about 42 percent of respondents said that self-driving cars are a bad idea, while 33 percent said they think the technology is a good idea, and 24 percent said they were unsure what to think.

Of those respondents who thought it was a bad idea, privacy remains a top concern. About 75 percent of respondents said that they were very concerned that companies would collect personal data from the software operating self-driving cars, and 70 percent said they were very/somewhat concerned this information would be shared with the government.

The Alliance said that 81 percent of respondents also said they were either very or somewhat concerned that hackers could gain control of a self-driving vehicle.